Changes in funding for senior programs around the state have left some senior citizens without services they have enjoyed. This situation provides a good opportunity to revisit a needed change in structure to the state agency that provides services to our state’s growing senior population.

South Carolina is the only state in the country in which an agency such as the Office on Aging is overseen by the lieutenant governor. The current oversight structure was created in 2004, and the decision was not a sound one even then. A part-time administration official with primarily legislative duties was given authority over a state agency. The structure offers very little accountability for an agency that serves a growing population.

Until a reform plan takes effect in the 2018 election that has the lieutenant governor running on the same ticket as the governor, this officeholder will continue to be elected in a down ticket race that draws little attention from voters. Twice in the past four years when the Legislature needed to fill a vacancy in the office, there has been doubt over whether anyone actually wanted the post.

This is a structure that should be changed. The Office on Aging should be under the direct supervision of the Governor’s Office to provide more accountability. If residents are not pleased with how the Office on Aging is being managed and how state and federal funding for seniors is being distributed, they ought to be able to look to the governor and hold him or her accountable. That holds true even moving forward as candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will appear on the same ticket as running mates.

Without a doubt, the Office on Aging faces some obstacles.

First, state funding is finite. That is a legislative problem, but the Legislature has shown a willingness to help meet financial requests from the office. Lawmakers this year gave the agency an additional $3 million for home and community services and another $2 million in nonrecurring funds for vouchers to help families whose loved ones have Alzheimer’s. Then Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed the $2 million, but lawmakers overrode her veto.

Although Haley decries the agency’s budget growth to $12.7 million this year from $4.5 million four years ago, it does serve an increasing population within the state at a time when the federal funding the agency relies upon is declining. Although tough decisions might be needed, the state does need to adequately fund this agency.

Second, South Carolina’s senior citizen population is increasing rapidly as this becomes an attractive state for retirees. This is a cultural issue that is not likely to go away. It means that the Office on Aging and the local agencies that are dependent on it are going to have to meet more needs, not fewer, in the coming years. About 950,000 people in South Carolina are eligible for services provided by the Office on Aging, according to a recent report in The News. Only about 25,000 of them receive services, according to that report. In Greenville County, about 200 of these seniors recently lost services offered by Senior Action, which gets funding from the Office on Aging. The same thing happened in counties across the state.

Lastly, this state has seen four lieutenant governors in the past four years. Although there have been some unusual circumstances contributing to this lack of stability, it offers a rationale for moving the agency’s leadership to a place where it can have more stability and more accountability. The leadership structure is not responsible for the funding issues within the Office on Aging, but more stable and qualified leadership could help better marshal available resources and certainly would raise the agency’s profile.

Andre Bauer was the first lieutenant governor to lead this office. He was replaced by Ken Ard who won the statewide election in 2010, but was forced to resign in 2012 after being charged with ethics violations. He was succeeded, reluctantly, by Glenn McConnell who this year left the post to become the president of the College of Charleston. After a drawn out process in which candidates were few and far between, Sen. Yancey McGill, a Democrat, agreed to resign from the Senate and take the job. This November, former Attorney General Henry McMaster and Democratic Sen. Bakari Sellers will run for the seat, and there will be yet another leadership change at the Office on Aging, its fifth leader since 2011.

There can be no stability for this agency given such frequent leadership changes. Legislators could fix this agency by taking control of it away from a part-time official and creating a legitimate agency director who reports directly to the governor. Such a change may not fix the funding concerns that now exist and are causing some seniors some angst. However, it certainly would create a logical leadership structure that makes it easier for state residents to challenge those funding decisions.